Page 26 of Healed in the Alpha's Embrace
“Power?” I looked back at my son, trying to see what Sam saw.
“Alpha power. It’s raw, untampered,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “As much as I wish I could guide him through it, I’m a beta. My experience is different.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Let Noah help. If he sees something in Ro, wants to be there for him... I think you should let him.”
“So you’re saying I should trust Noah?” The words felt foreign on my tongue.
“Trust him,” Sam confirmed, nodding once decisively. “For Ro’s sake.”
I blew out a breath. “Can you stay with him, please? I need a minute.”
“Of course,” he said, then went to sit with Roland. I watched as the two of them began to look at the piece they were fixing up, Sam explaining what they were doing.
Leaving them to it, I went out onto the back porch. The porch swing creaked in protest as I settled into it, the rhythmic motion offering no comfort to the chaos of my thoughts.
Was I doing the right thing for Ro? George’s influence—his darkness—was something I had escaped, but at what cost to our son? Leaving George had been the only choice, the right choice. But now that I was faced with Ro’s emerging alpha nature, my certainty wavered.
Noah was an enigma, a strong alpha with a gentle heart, but still a stranger. Was his offer to help Ro genuine, or did he have another agenda? I couldn’t tell, and that terrified me. But Sam believed in him, saw something honorable, and if Sam trusted him...
“Dammit,” I muttered, gripping the chains of the swing tighter. If Noah could be to Ro what George never would, then perhaps this was a risk worth taking.
“Please let this be the right decision,” I murmured. “Don’t let this come back to bite me.”
7
NOAH
I’d been halfway through my usual loop around the park when a jolt of energy hit me. It was like static in the air but thicker, pulsing. There wasn’t supposed to be a surge like that, not here, not now. It felt raw, untrained. Had to be a kid.
It had been coming from Roland. I’d encouraged the kid to apologize, and he had. But when he told his mother he was frightened of ending up like his father, my heart all but broke. I made a silent promise, not just to him, but to myself. I was going to help this kid, teach him how to handle his strength, how to grow into it. Because no one should have to face that power alone.
After we’d left the park, I went straight to the gym and waited for Zoey and Roland. Time seemed to drag on and on. I glanced at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time, my muscles tensing with each ticking second. The weight of uncertainty pressed on my chest, until a familiar pull tugged at my gut, a sensation that had grown more insistent since meeting Zoey.
“Come on,” I muttered under my breath, willing her to walk through the door and prove my instincts right.
Then, as if summoned by my plea, the door swung open, and the pull in my gut transformed into a rush of relief. Zoey stepped inside, her gaze sweeping the gym, while Roland trailed behind her.
“Hey there,” I called out, and though my heart galloped like a wild horse, I sounded calm.
“Hi,” Zoey replied cautiously but curiously.
Roland’s attention darted from one corner of the gym to another until it landed on the ring where two teenagers were sparring under Ky’s watchful guidance. They danced around each other, gloves thudding against pads.
The ring seemed to draw Roland like a moth to a flame. “Wow,” he breathed out, eyes wide with awe.
I couldn’t help but smile, remembering my first encounter with the raw energy of a boxing match. “It’s quite something, isn’t it?” I said.
Roland nodded vigorously. Without realizing I’d even been waiting for it, the confirmation I needed clicked into place. I’d made the right choice in offering this to Roland.
Now I just had to get his mother on board. And that might be a tougher challenge than any championship match I’d ever participated in.
“Can I try that?” he asked, pointing to the ring with unabashed excitement.
“Maybe one day, kiddo,” I replied. “Why don’t we start with the basics first?”
As Zoey watched her son, I could see the hesitant hope on her face. I’d felt that hesitant hope myself the first time I stepped into a place like this.
